Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has laid into FA chief Greg Dyke over his proposed plans to limit the number of non-EU players in the Premier League by claiming it will only lead to mediocrity, the Daily Star reports.
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Dyke recently laid out the plans for the change in order to help improve the England national team and is hoping to cut the number of non-EU players down so that clubs have 12 home grown players in a 25 man squad.
And though the proposal was met with enthusiasm in certain sections, Wenger has registered his opposition by claiming that it will lead the league on a downward spiral towards mediocrity.
Arsenal have just six non-EU players on their books – but three of those are out on loan and unlikely to be at the Emirates for much longer.
But he sees limited the number of players from other parts of the world as counter productive.
“I believe that we are in the world of competition. Competition means who of you or me is the best one. We have to accept that,” Wenger told beIN Sports.
“That means as well that the rules of the game must be structured to favour the best. Or we are not in a competition anymore.
“So we can say one of two things – we protect the mediocre or we produce the best players.
“I personally would support hugely to pay super people who think about how we can produce players from five years old to 20 years old to be as good as they can be rather than protect them through wrong mediocre rules.
“I give you two examples. In Yugoslavia in the past they decided you had to play three players on the team sheet who were under 21. What happened? They became professional subs. It happened in France, too.
“Then they decided you had to play three players under-21 from the start. You know what happened? They subbed all three after five minutes.
“If we want to sell the Premier League for a huge amount of money then we need to say: ‘buy this, this is the best in the world.’ You cannot go against the quality and what is at the heart of our job which is competition.
“The best must be the best. That’s why I will fight against it. I have very little power but I don’t think the idea is right.”